True Destiny
by etmuse
Summary: Can Max and Liz overcome their problems and truly be happy together? Picks up from 'End of the World' Part of the 'Roswell Lives' series.
1. Chapter 1

Title: True Destiny  
Rating: M (not for this chapter, but for upcoming ones)  
Disclaimer: I don't own them, don't sue...you wouldn't get anything anyway cos I'm just a poor student.  
Summary: Picks up during 'End of the World' ...and goes how I think it should have.  
Author's Note: This is part of my 'Roswell Lives' series, and takes place first chronologically.

* * *

Chapter 1: The Fallout

* * *

Max Evans couldn't believe what he was seeing. Liz would never…no, not ever…she wasn't like that…but…no…why…how could she…how could this be happening? This _couldn't_ be happening. Liz would never cheat on him like this. And especially not with _Kyle_. She just wasn't that kind of person. She had always been so pure, so good…perfect. Something wasn't right. He closed his eyes and pinched his arm as if to wake himself from a dream, but when he reopened them, he was still standing there, on Liz's balcony. He had found himself in a waking nightmare. His breath caught in his throat, and an unknown hand squeezed his heart in his chest. A wave of nausea washed over him. He had to get out of there, and fast.  
He backed away from the window, somehow managing to make his way down the fire escape without falling. He needed to think. He had to figure out what it was that was making Liz act so strangely. He couldn't believe she would do something so terrible. His heart was still beating painfully in his chest as he rounded the building. He couldn't go home. He needed time to compose himself a little before he faced his sister Isabel, who would know that something was bothering him as soon as he walked through the door. Setting off down the street, he soon found himself in the darkness of the park. He staggered towards a nearby bench and sank down onto it, his head dropping towards his knees as the pain in his chest became unbearable. His eyes welled up with unbidden tears, and he buried his face in his hands and wept out his heartache to the empty park.

Suddenly he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He looked up into the sympathetic eyes of Tess Harding. 'Great' he thought. He and Tess didn't exactly get along. She had appeared in town just a few months ago, and had proceeded to try and ruin his life. She insisted that he and she were 'destined' to be together, no matter how much he tried to drum it into her skull that it was never going to happen, that he was in love with Liz, and that wasn't going to change any time soon. She had obviously convinced herself that just because his past self on Antar was married to hers, this meant that they should be together in this lifetime too.

"What do you want?" he demanded irritably.

"Nothing. I was just walking by and noticed you sitting here alone. Thought you might like some company. Or maybe someone to talk to."

"Why would I need 'someone to talk to'?"

"You're upset. Maybe I could help. Sometimes it helps just to tell someone about what's bothering you."

This was exactly the reason he had avoided going home. He didn't want to talk about what he had seen. It was too raw. "No," he choked out. Tess sat down beside him anyway.

"Are you sure? I know we haven't exactly been the best of friends, but I am a good listener when I want to be."

"Yeah right."

"Is it something to do with Liz?" Max said nothing, and just stared at his feet. "It is, isn't it. You _can_ talk to me about her. I might not agree with you seeing her, but that doesn't mean you can't pretend I'm an impartial listener. It will do you good to get it out in the open."

"I saw her," Max mumbled. Tess started. She hadn't expected him to actually tell her.

"And?"

"With Kyle…both of them…in her room. I was…I was going to see her. Wanted to ask her to…to the…the Gomez concert. And I…I saw them." Max lifted his tear-stained eyes to Tess's. The words burned in his throat. "I saw them _together_"

"What do you mean?" Tess asked, slightly confused.

"I mean I saw them…in bed…with no clothes on. Both of them. Together." His words stung Tess more than she thought.

"You mean they…?"

"I…yes…it looked like that." Max turned to Tess. "I can't believe she would do this to me. If she didn't love me anymore why didn't she just tell me? Why did she have to go and sleep with…_Kyle_."

"I don't know." Tess wasn't sure she wanted to examine her own reaction to this piece of news too carefully.

"I just don't understand. Why? Why why why?"

"I really don't know. I don't understand it any more than you." Tess put her arm around Max, pulling him into a hug. "You should go home. Things won't feel as bad in the morning after a night's sleep."

Max looked at Tess gratefully. "Thank you for listening. You were right. It does feel a little better telling someone." Max stood, walking off in the direction of his home. Tess sat for a little longer before determining to go find Kyle, and get the whole truth.

* * *

Liz Parker looked around her room. She hated this, but she knew that it was for the good of the world. Max needed to make Tess stay, and he couldn't do that if he was still in love with her. 'Future Max' had made that very clear. She still wasn't entirely sure why _she_ had to be the only one that Max would come back to talk to. He had painted a very vivid picture, everyone dead except the two of them, the skins taking over the world. He had also told her of the happy times. Something she almost wished he hadn't, since she knew she would never get to experience them. Never get to marry Max, be together for always. She knew she had to sacrifice her own happiness to save her friends' lives.

Kyle came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist.

"You're sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely."

"And you won't tell me why?"

"I told you. I need to make Max fall out of love with me."

"But you won't tell me why that is."

"I can't. Anyway, he'll be here soon. We better get ready."

"Underwear stays on, right?"

"Yup." Liz and Kyle climbed into bed and pulled the quilt over them, just as Max climbed up the fire escape onto Liz's balcony.

Liz blanched as she saw Max's face go white outside the window. She knew this would hurt him. She only hoped that she'd never have to hurt him this badly ever again.

To be continued…


	2. The Truth Hurts

Liz awoke very late the next morning with a sickening feeling in her gut. 'Future Max' had disappeared last night, so she must have changed the future. Max must have fallen out of love with her. The thought tormented her as it passed through her mind. Max no longer loved her. Max probably hated her. Never again would she feel the soft touch of Max's lips upon her own. He would never again climb up her fire escape late at night just to see her face. And never again would she hear him utter her favourite words, 'I love you.'

She was glad it was Saturday, and she wasn't on the rota for the Crashdown. She had made no commitments to anyone or anything, and she planned to spend the day on her own, in bed, grieving over what she had deliberately thrown away the night before. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks as she recalled the grief stricken face outside her window. A few more joined them as she wondered despondently if she would ever have the opportunity to explain, if the timing would ever be right, if Max would ever even speak to her again. A sob caught in her throat as she contemplated the very real possibility that Max Evans, the love of her life, her soul-mate, would never again even deign to give her the time of day. Just as her tears were threatening to become a flood, she heard a tap against her window. Looking up, and wiping tears away from her eyes with her pyjama sleeve, she was surprised to see Tess's face at her window. Nonetheless, she climbed out of bed and went to open the window.

"What are you here for?" she sniffled.

"I think we should have a talk." Tess replied.

"About what?"

"Max. You. Me."

"I guess you better come in."

Liz stepped aside to let Tess clamber in the window. Taking a paper tissue from a box on her dresser, she wiped her cheeks and sat on the edge of her bed, leaving Tess to take her desk chair.

"Liz," Tess started. "I know what happened last night. What _really_ happened. What I don't know is why."

"Wait. How do you know?"

"I bumped into Max last night in the park. He was…upset…and we talked. He told me what he saw here last night. He wasn't in any state to give me details, and I figured he didn't really know what was going on anyway. So I talked to Kyle early this morning."

"Oh."

"I kinda confronted him about it. Went at him pretty hard with what I'd gathered from Max. I hadn't really realised until then how important his answers were to me. Not just to Max."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Liz, a bit confused. Tess took a deep breath and looked Liz right in the eye.

"I guess I'm trying to tell you that, somewhere along the line, although my mind didn't recognise it at the time, my heart stopped waiting for Max to turn around and love me. It went right on and found someone else. And then last night, well, last night when Max told me what he'd seen, it hurt. And not because Max was hurting. But because my heart felt betrayed."

"You mean you have feelings for Kyle?" Liz was astonished.

"Yes. I guess that's why I challenged him about it this morning. Eventually, he confessed that it had all been a set up. Something about you wanting Max to fall out of love with you."

"Yeah…"

"He also told me he didn't know why. He said you wouldn't tell him. I need to know this now. Is it anything to do with me?"

"Well, in a roundabout way, yes. If I tell you the complete truth, can you promise me it won't go any further? At least for the moment."

"Yes. I just need to know."

"The night before last, Max came to see me. But it wasn't Max from this time. It was a Max from the future. At first I didn't believe it, but then he knew things that only a Max from the future would. He told me about his time. All of our friends were dead. The skins had attacked and everyone was gone except us."

"That's terrible."

"And he was sure it could be prevented. He was sure that they could have beaten them had you not been compelled to leave town. Because Max ignored you to the point where you couldn't take it anymore and you left. The four of you are stronger together, he said. They needed you to win. And he figured that the only way to make Max pay more attention to you, maybe fall in love with you, we had to get him to…to…fall out of love…" A few tears started to leak out of the corners of Liz's eyes. "…with me."

"So you concocted your plan."

"I tried lots of other things first. I didn't, I _don't_ want to hurt him. But nothing worked."

"So you set the thing up with Kyle."

"Yes. I knew Max was coming over to see me. Future Max had told me. So yes, I set the thing up with Kyle so that he would see us in bed together, leap to conclusions, and…and…you know."

"Fall out of love with you."

"Yes."

Tess looked rueful. "If only I'd been able to recognise what was in my heart sooner, then maybe you and Max could have been spared all this pain."

"You mean the Kyle thing."

"Yes. If I'd realised how I felt about him even a week ago, then you wouldn't have had to put yourself through so much. Put Max though so much."

"So your feelings for Kyle are pretty serious then?"

"Well, umm….yeah."

"Have you said anything to him about this?"

Tess blushed. "Yes." She smiled slightly shyly. "I told him this morning when I was asking him about last night. He wanted to know exactly why it was so important to me and I kind of blurted it out. Accidentally."

"Oh…what did he say?"

"Not a lot, really. He just looked at me for ages. I think he was trying to figure out if I was joking. And then he…well, he just kissed me."

Liz started. "Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"After that, we sat down together and talked. We're gonna give it a try. You know, together."

"What happened to the whole 'destiny' thing?"

"That was something I thought a lot about in bed last night. And I came to an important conclusion. A conclusion I think Max, Michael and Isabel reached a long time ago. I'm not who I used to be. I'm not Ava, at least not 100 Ava. She's a part of me, maybe like my alien half, but she's not all of who I am anymore. I've been given a second chance at life, and I don't need to spend it trying to recreate my first life. One couple that are clearly _not_ meant to be is Tess and Max. Zan and Ava may have been very happy together, but we're not those people anymore."

"That's a lot to come to terms with in one night."

"I didn't really sleep much. My brain was whirring all night, trying to make sense of everything I'm feeling. Trying to sort out where I really belong on Earth. And it's not in Max Evans' arms. I think we could be great friends, but we're just not meant for each other."

"And you think maybe you and Kyle are?"

"I don't know. I guess we just need to wait and see how it turns out."

"What about his dad?" The thought very suddenly popped into Liz's head.

"We're gonna have to tell him at some point, I suppose. Probably better to be sooner rather than later. At this moment, it's all just so complicated, and I have no idea what we're gonna do about that."

"You'll figure it out. Eventually."

"Hopefully. The same goes for you too."

"Huh? I don't think I'm following you."

"You and Max. I've been going over all the times I've seen you together, and maybe I've been blinded by my devotion to the whole destiny thing, but I never realised before how perfect you are for each other. You need to go see him. Explain. Try and sort things out between you two."

"I don't know that we can."

"You have to try. Even if it doesn't work out with Kyle, I'm not going anywhere, so you can rest easy on that front. I'm telling you Liz, he loves you."

"He hates me. He's bound to after what I subjected him to last night."

"He doesn't want to though. He doesn't want to believe what he saw. You need to go to him. You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't at least give it a shot."

"I guess…but he'll never listen to me."

"Make him. Liz, a love like the one you have with Max comes along once in a lifetime. You can't just let it go.

With that, Tess suddenly stood up and climbed out the window, leaving Liz alone to ponder just how she should go about winning Max's love…all over again.

To be continued……


	3. But It Can Set You Free

It pained Liz to see Max on Monday morning. He was pale, and had rings under his eyes as a testament to his lack of sleep. His eyes looked lost, and his whole appearance was haggard. Not that she looked a whole lot better. Maria and Alex descended on her the moment she walked into school, concerned looks on their faces.

"Liz!" "Hey chica, are you ok? You look…"

"I'm fine, just tired…honest."

Alex and Maria exchanged glances. They could tell something was bothering Liz, but they also knew that their friend wouldn't talk about it until she was ready. Liz missed their looks, her eyes too busy following Max worriedly to notice. Her friends noted her distraction, and followed her gaze. Discerning its object, they figured out the probable cause of Liz's distress. _Something_ must have happened with her and Max.

Liz barely noticed her best friends' presence, as she was lost in thought. She _knew_ that she needed to find a way to explain everything to Max, but she was sure it would be nigh on impossible to convince him to listen to her. He wouldn't even look at her!

* * *

Max wasn't sure how he made it to school on Monday morning. He had been living in a zombie-like state of pain and depression all weekend, barely eating or sleeping, speaking to people only to answer a direct question, his mind reliving the awful moment over and over again. His family had noticed his despondency, and Isabel had tried to question him about it, but he didn't really want to go through it again. He hoped that if he tried not to think about it, eventually he might be able to get his attention off it for a few minutes, and hopefully start to get with his life. At this moment that looked like a very far off, if not never occurring, event. When he actually made it to school, he kept his eyes on the ground. He didn't want to see anyone, especially not Liz or Kyle. It just hurt too much.

* * *

Liz walked home just as low as she had been all day. Not once had she managed to even catch Max's eye, let alone speak to him. If she had thought Friday night had been heartbreaking, this was worse. It wrenched another chunk out of her heart every time she saw him and how awful he looked. Every time he averted his gaze to avoid her. Every time she thought of everything that they'd never do again if she couldn't somehow find a way to explain. 

The following day, feeling a little braver, Liz ventured to speak to Max in one of the several classes they shared. She still hadn't managed to catch his attention, but she knew she was close enough to him that he could hear her. She said his name several times, but at no point did he acknowledge that he had heard her, by word or action. She had expected as much, but it still stung.

That afternoon after school, she hit upon an idea. Walking up the Valentis' path, she hoped it would work. She rapped on the door, and a few moments later Kyle appeared. He looked surprised to see her, and it took him a few seconds to register that she had spoken, and asked for Tess.

"Hey Liz…sure…hang on," At this Kyle turned around and hollered for Tess as he ushered Liz through the door, shutting it firmly behind her. Tess appeared as Liz walked into the lounge.

"Hi Liz, what is it?"

"Can I speak to you?… Alone?" Liz glanced meaningfully at Kyle, not sure how much Tess might have told him.

"I, umm, I filled Kyle in. He knows…everything." Tess looked a little uncomfortable, as if she was unsure if Liz would be upset at this revelation.

"Ok then…I guess he can stay then," Liz flashed a weak smile at Kyle, "He might even be able to help."

"What do you need help with?"

"Well, you know how you told me to fight for Max? I, well, I just don't really know where to start. He won't even look at me, let alone listen to anything I might have to say for myself, listen to my explanation."

"Yeah, I noticed that he's kind of been shutting everyone out."

"He's hurting so much, I can see it," Liz said, her voice choked, "And he shouldn't have to be. If only I could explain everything, and maybe he wouldn't look so lost, so haunted anymore." A single tear trickled down Liz's cheek, showing Tess and Kyle just how much it was grieving Liz to see Max so dejected.

"Maybe there's some way I can help. Max and I aren't exactly best buddies, after all I put him through trying to split the two of you up, but he opened up to me just a little that night. Maybe I can get through to him."

"Yeah, that's what I hoped too. That's why I came to you. You two are the only ones who know the whole story, you're the only ones that can help."

"We'll do anything we can."

"Well, I thought up a vague plan before I came over here, I don't know for sure that it will work, but I can only hope…"

Less than ten minutes later, Liz had finished outlining what she hoped would get Max at least talking to her.

* * *

The following day, at lunchtime, Tess headed over to where Max had decided to sit alone to eat, with his back against a tree as he sat and stared at the ground. Sliding down to sit next to him, she cast a concerned gaze his way. 

"How you doing?" Max just grunted dispiritedly in reply. "I can't say I know how you feel, exactly, because I don't, but what I _can_ say is that it hurt me too." Max looked up, confused. "When you told me that night, what you had seen, I got a shooting pain in my chest. At first I didn't know why, but I couldn't stop thinking about it all night. I eventually realised that it was because I have umm… feelings…for Kyle." The baffled look in Max's eyes was replaced with one of downright shock.

"What?"

"Yeah, it surprised me too, but there it is. I've been so busy trying to fulfil the destiny I've been taught about all my life, that I didn't stop to think about if it was what I really wanted. What happened on Friday night forced me to take a good look at myself. How I was living, what I was doing."

"Wow."

"Yeah. I kinda confronted Kyle about it on Saturday morning. I'd just discovered a whole hell of a lot about my feelings, and I was pretty pissed at him for what had happened. He was kinda shocked that I even knew about it. He wouldn't say a lot about it, only that 'it wasn't how it looked', whatever that means. He was acting kinda weird about it though, like there was something going on that night completely different to what I accused him of."

"Like what? He and Liz have been seeing each other secretly for months or something?"

"No. Almost like it had been a hoax or something. He seemed a bit confused as to what had actually happened. I'm not entirely convinced that he actually slept with Liz."

"I am. I _saw_ them remember?"

"Well, you saw what looked like the aftermath. You didn't see them actually doing 'IT'."

"Maybe not, but it was pretty damn obvious what had just happened."

"You could be right, but I'm still not convinced. I guess Liz is the only one who knows the whole story, what really happened and why." Max sighed. Barely minutes later, Liz walked past, just a few meters from them, her head down and her face pale. Before he could stop to consider what he was about to do, Max jumped up and grabbed her arm roughly. Liz turned towards him, her eyes angry at first before they softened slightly as she realised it was actually Max.

"Ok, if there's something weird going on here out with it. You need to tell me what the hell is going on!" Max's normally reserved voice was raised in a shout. Liz looked around at the people milling around them, some of whom had turned to see what had made quiet Max Evans yell.

We can't talk here. There are too many people about. Come with me." Max looked for a moment like he might resist, but he let her lead him towards the eraser room, the only place she could think of where they wouldn't be interrupted. As she closed the door behind them, he held his hand over the lock for a few seconds, using his powers to lock it. When he turned towards Liz, she was standing nervously at the other side of the room. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall next to the door. For several minutes, they just stood there, neither saying anything. Liz shifted uncomfortably.

"Well?" Max finally hissed impatiently. "Are you going to tell me something or not?"

"I…We…You…" Liz faltered, unsure now of how to begin. She had rehearsed this, but her carefully memorised explanation flew right out of her mind. She could see Max shifting edgily, and tried again. "Max, what you saw, I mean, what happened, it…it, well…" She tailed off again, her eyes dropping to the floor.

"Look, did you bloody sleep with Kyle or not?" Max demanded. Liz raised her eyes to lock with his, staring right at him to try and show him she was telling the truth.

"Not" she whispered. Max's eyes narrowed.

"How can you stand there and lie to me? I saw you. I know you slept with him."

"Max, please believe me. Nothing happened. It was a set up, alright? It was a hoax, a ruse, a deception. I knew you were coming over to see me, and I set up the thing with Kyle. I knew you would find us and jump to the obvious conclusion!" Max stared at her in disbelief. If you're telling me the truth, then you _meant_ for me to find you? You _wanted_ to cause me pain?" Tears started to trickle down Liz's cheeks.

"No, I didn't want to. But I _had_ to."

"What?"

"I had to make you fall out of love with me. It was the only way. You told me to do it. Well, not _you_ exactly, but a version of you." Max looked confused as Liz continued her tearful explanation. "it was you from 10 years into the future. You had come back to warn me, to make sure that what happened in his timeline didn't happen again." Liz shuffled a little closer to Max, her eyes entreating him to believe her. "In that timeline, they were all dead Max. Isabel, Michael, Alex, Maria…all of them. I couldn't let that happen. And the only way I could do that was to help prevent Tess from leaving town."

"Why?"

"The four of you are stronger together. In his timeline, we got back together, we were happy together. But it drove Tess away. And without her, you had no chance of stopping the skins when they attacked. They took over. The world was horrible, and they killed everyone we cared about. Don't you see? I _had_ to do what I did, to make you reach out to Tess, to stop her leaving. To save the world." Liz was right in front of Max now, tears streaming freely down her face.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know you're not just playing with my head?"

"Why would I want to? I don't want to hurt you Max, you have to believe that." Max looked unsure. "Maybe you could try connecting with me, like you did before. You might see what happened for yourself." Max transferred his weight from one foot to the other, deliberating what she had suggested. Eventually he looked up at her, and nodded slightly.

"I want to be able to believe you, I want to be able to take your word for it. But maybe connecting is a good idea." Liz nodded, and moved closer. Max placed his hands on her cheeks, and concentrated, staring into her eyes.

_!!FLASH!!_

A much older looking Max appearing before Liz, telling her what was about to happen.

_!!FLASH!!_

Liz and Kyle lying talking in bed, waiting for him to show up.

_!!FLASH!!_

A slightly older Liz and Max, as he carried her out of a wedding chapel in a wedding dress.

_!!FLASH!!_

Liz crying as she danced with Future Max.

_!!FLASH!!_

A much older Liz and Max in the Granolith chamber, kissing goodbye as he left to come back.

_!!FLASH!!_

Max pulled away from Liz slightly, stunned by all that he had just seen. His legs felt weak and they sank to the floor together, leaning against a wall. He knew now for sure that she had been telling the truth, and had gotten a glimpse of the future she had known about, and some of the things she had given up to try and save the world. His eyes filled with tears as he realised what she had put herself through. His voice was choked as he spoke.

"Liz, I can't believe, I just…" A thought hit him. "Why are you telling me now? Surely that defeats the point?"

"On Saturday morning, Tess came to see me." Liz began. "She told me she had heard from you about what had happened, and that it had hurt her. She had confronted Kyle with it, and," she paused, knowing she was about to reveal that Tess had known more than she had let on, "he admitted that he never slept with me." Max looked surprised.

"But she told me…"

"I know. She knows everything Max. But I wanted to be the one to tell you, so I asked her to downplay how much she knew. I needed to be the one to explain Max. It was just so awful to see you in pain."

"She said something about having feelings for Kyle."

"Yeah, she told me that too. He has feelings for her too. They came out when Tess confronted him about Friday night."

"Do you think they'll…?"

"I think they might. I know Tess was hopeful for it when we talked Saturday morning."

"Sounds like the two of you had quite a long chat."

"Yeah. Tess isn't as bad as I had been making out to myself. She's just been lost. She was raised to believe in one thing, and it's been hard on her to accept that it isn't going to work out like that. Although I think Kyle might be able to help her with that now." As they talked, Liz and Max had slowly, instinctively, inched closer to each other, and they were now no more than a hair breadth apart, and as Liz finished talking, their gazes met and held. Liz felt a familiar pulling sensation as she drowned in Max's eyes. Ever so gradually, they leaned towards each other, their gaze never breaking. When their lips finally met in a soft kiss, Liz felt her eyes flutter closed as she absorbed the wonderful sensation feeling Max's lips against her own gave her. His tongue gently traced the seam of her lips, and she opened to let him deepen the kiss. When Max finally managed to pull away, they were both breathing hard. After taking a few moments to catch his breath, Max spoke softly.

"We're gonna have to talk to everyone about the skins thing. Now that we know we can be better prepared for them."

"I know. We have to believe that all of us together can overcome them. They only won in that other frame of events because we weren't all together, all 8 of us working together."

"We will." Max whispered before his eyes dropped to her lips again and he leant in to capture her lips once more.

_!!DRRRRRRNNNNGGGGG!!_

They both cursed the bell as the pulled apart, and readied themselves to head to their classes.

To be continued…


End file.
